8:00 to 8:30 a.m. — Registration and Reception
8:30 to 8:45 a.m. — Welcome and Introductions
President Havidán Rodríguez
Provost Carol H. Kim
8:45 to 9:30 a.m. — Opening Panel: Identifying Key Opportunities to Enable Healthy Aging
Panelists will share insights about the needs of the communities they serve and how advancements in science, technology or policy might address those needs. The panel will highlight strengths in the Capital Region and beyond, and how new multi-institutional, multi-sector partnerships might create innovative opportunities for meeting identified and emerging needs.
Moderator:
Dr. Carol H. Kim, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Panelist 1: Dr. Edward Fitzgerald, Professor Emeritus, University at Albany, President of The Emeritus Center
- Panelist 2: Dr. Vijeth Iyengar, Director of Global Aging
- Panelist 3: Mr. Gary R. McCarthy, Mayor of the City of Schenectady
- Panelist 4: Ms. Mary Moller, Executive Director, The Albany Guardian Society
9:30 to 10:30 a.m. — Panel 1: Generation’s Work: Reshaping the Conversation about Growing Older
This panel will discuss:
- How our perceptions about aging impact our health and well-being.
- The purpose and value of framing communication to improve understanding of aging.
- How common patterns of thinking and communicating confound our messages and goals.
- How to apply techniques in our work to create well-framed messages by reviewing samples from the National Center to Reframe Aging’s network.
Chairs:
Dr. Vicky Rizzo, Interim Dean, School of Social Welfare
Dr. Elizabeth Vásquez, Department Chair, Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Dr. Mary Gallant, Interim Dean, School of Public Health
Moderator:
Dr. Elizabeth Vásquez, Department Chair, Epidemiology & Biostatistics
- Speaker: Patricia D’Antonio, Vice President, Policy and Professional Affairs, Gerontological Society of America & Executive Director, National Center to Reframe Aging
- Respondent: Mary Moller, Executive Director, Albany Guardian Society
10:30 to 10:45 a.m. — Break
10:45 to 11:45 a.m. — Panel 2: A Public Health Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders and Mental Health and Substance Use
Panelists will give an overview on the current public health aspects of Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias, as well as mental health and substance use issues among older adults. They will discuss current approaches to address these important issues and associated research and policy needs/implications.
Chairs:
Dr. Mary Gallant, Interim Dean, School of Public Health
Dr. M. Dolores Cimini, Director & Senior Research Scientist, Center for Behavioral Health Promotion and Applied Research
Dr. Elizabeth Vásquez, Department Chair, Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Moderators:
Dr. Mary Gallant, Interim Dean, School of Public Health
Dr. M. Dolores Cimini, Director & Senior Research Scientist, Center for Behavioral Health Promotion and Applied Research
- Panelist 1: David Hoffman, Board Member and Policy Committee Chair, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors; Clinical Professor, Health Policy, Management & Behavior, School of Public Health, UAlbany; Former Director, Bureau of Community Integration and Alzheimer's Disease, Office of Health Insurance Programs, New York State Department of Health
- Panelist 2: Nicole MacFarland, Chief Executive Officer and Clinical Director, Senior Hope Counseling, Albany, NY; Clinical Associate Professor, Schools of Public Health and Social Welfare, University at Albany
11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. — Lunch
12:45 to 1:45 p.m. — Panel 3: Translating Science from the Laboratory
The basic science experience allows us to work on tool development and on the refinement of testable hypotheses that would otherwise be difficult to implement in humans. Speakers in this panel will talk about their quest to develop biomarkers for aging, to generate a new understanding of the role of the brain vasculature in the aging process and to contribute to the development of future therapeutic strategies for patients affected by Alzheimer's disease.
Chair:
Dr. Annalisa Scimemi, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Moderator:
Dr. Annalisa Scimemi, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
- Panelist 1: David Butler, Principal Investigator, Neural Stem Cell Institute; Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Sciences
- Panelist 2: Kristen Zuloaga, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Albany Medical College
- Panelist 3: Igor Lednev, Distinguished Professor, Chemistry and The RNA Institute
1:45 to 2:45 p.m. — Panel 4: Senescence
Cellular senescence halts cellular proliferation in response to damage that occurs during replication. Senescent cells that accumulate with age adopt senescence-associated (SA) secretory phenotype (SASP) that is linked to tissue degeneration creating an environment that is permissive to disease onset.
UAlbany biologists in the early 1990s were the first to describe the SASP phenotype and in more recent years it has been demonstrated that genetic ablation or therapeutic inhibition of senescence in murine models of aging can delay the onset of tumor occurrence and age-related decline in organ function causally linking senescence and the accompanying SASP to disease onset. Thus, the nature and amplitude of the senescence program have emerged as an etiologic component of the aging process.
The panel will discuss ongoing efforts directed at defining the post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms controlling the senescent program and efforts to use senescence-limiting therapeutics to prevent disease.
Moderator:
Dr. Andre Melendez, Interim Dean of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE)
- Panelist 1: Ben Boivin, Associate Professor, Nanobioscience, CNSE
- Panelist 2: Scott Tenenbaum, Associate Professor, CNSE
- Panelist 3: Kaalak Reddy, Research Faculty, The RNA Institute
- Panelist 4: Mindy Larsen, Professor, Biology
- Panelist 5: Dylan Ehrbar, PhD Candidate, Begley Lab
2:45 to 3:00 p.m. — Break
3:00 to 4:00 p.m. — Panel 5: Smart Aging Technology and Older Adult Engagement Strategies
This panel will discuss technologies and initiatives that consider the impacts of technology for healthy aging. We will explore smart technologies (such as smart appliances and personal intelligence devices), innovative telecommunications, health-related technology and robotics, among others. The panel will also examine potential barriers to access such as the digital divide, digital literacy and the lack of universal design.
Chair:
Dr. DeeDee Bennett Gayle, Associate Professor, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity
Moderator:
Dr. DeeDee Bennett Gayle, Associate Professor, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity
- Panelist 1: Greg Olsen, Acting Director, New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA)
- Panelist 2: Xiaojun (Jenny) Yuan, Associate Professor, Information Sciences and Technology, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity
- Panelist 3: Eric Ledet, Vice President, Research & Development and Director of the Health Innovation Incubator & Technology Center
4:00 to 4:30 p.m. — Moderated Plenary Discussion and Closing Remarks
Thenkurussi (Kesh) Kesavadas, Vice President for Research and Economic Development (VPRED)
Provost Carol H. Kim
4:30 to 4:45 p.m. — Closing Session
4:45 p.m. — Adjourn to Reception in the ETEC Atrium (light refreshments)
